Ringing in a New Year
by ForAnything
Summary: It's New Year's Eve Eve, and Marinette is being forced to attend a party for another shot at Adrien. Accidents happen, and Marinette discovers a well kept secret. With a New Year about to begin, how will this new information change Marinette, and Ladybug's long term feelings? Ladynoir and Adrienette!


**AN: This is my first story on this account, and my first Miraculous fanfiction! Sorry it's a little late for the New Year, and I'm not really all that thrilled with the ending. Reviews are appreciated!**

"I just don't understand the reasoning Alya, a new year doesn't mean he'll suddenly love me!" Marinette screeched as she fell onto her bed, covering her hands with her face.

"Nah not suddenly, I'm betting that he's been secretly in love with you for years, he just has to realize it. Maybe a New Year's kiss?" Alya winked suggestively.

"I can't just go up to him and kiss him! We are barely on speaking terms let alone… kissing terms!"

The two girls sighed, Alya knowing that forcing Marinette into any sort of move on Adrien would be impossible, as it has been for the better part of two years. Sure, there had been birthday presents which she had never received credit for, and anonymous Valentines, but overall little progress had been made.

"I don't know how you can just sit back and keep all those feelings pent up," Alya muttered, thinking about how she had confronted Nino the second she realized that she had a crush on him.

"He's a model Alya, he's rich and he's famous, and he actually has fangirls! I'm just Marinette, an average girl with an average life." Not exactly average, but even if she ever actually dated Adrien, her double life would have to remain a secret. She hadn't told Alya, or even her parents, a boyfriend wouldn't be able to easily get it out of her.

"Marinette, he's a model and you're an amazingly talented designer! You guys would make such a cohesive pair, if you actually talked to him maybe you both would actually realize it!"

Marinette sighed again and looked out the window, her view of Paris was actually stunning. She could see the Christmas lights, still decorating the windows and streets from the holiday which had occurred four days prior. She had spent the past week working the holiday rush at the bakery, adding that to her already time consuming patrol duties, she had barely had time to breathe.

"You're seventeen Marinette, you've loved this boy since the beginning of high school and now we are almost to the end! What if, next year, you guys go to separate universities on different sides of France!"

"Fine Alya! I'll go to Nino's stupid New Year's Eve Eve party, and maybe, and that's a big emphasis on the maybe! Maybe I'll dance with him, but I am not going to kiss him." Marinette was barely able to finish her sentence before Alya tackled her into a hug.

"Why are you hugging me? I didn't even really agree to anything."

"Yeah but I'm proud of you, but also, I wanted to disable your arms when I say this," she paused, grasping on to Marinette just a little bit tighter, "I sort of accidentally maybe told Nino that you have a crush on Adrien."

"Wait, you did what?!" As predicted, her arms attempted to flail wildly, but were restrained by Alya's "hug".

"Yeah uh, four months ago," Marinette screams again and Alya waited to continue, "Yeah but he did tell me that Adrien definitely thinks you're cute!"

"He thinks I'm cute? Are you sure? Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Slow down, Nino just told me about it, and he's going to play you guys a special song at his party!" Alya finally released Marinette, clapping her hands together happily. Despite her aspirations to work in journalism, she could very well have her own party planning or matchmaking business. If Marinette were any other person, she and Adrien would have been dating for years with Alya's skills. Instead, the lethal combination of awkwardness and stubbornness had prevented her from getting much further than casual friends.

"Well that's just great, that should make everything just a piece of cake. I'll just walk up to him and say, "Hey handsome, I've been in love with you behind your back for three years, and your best friend and my best friend planned a special song for us to dance to together!" It'll practically seal the deal!" Marinette laughed, her voice oozing sarcasm, earning an eye roll from Alya.

"I know you're mad, but Nino and I have been dating for a year, you couldn't expect me to keep a secret that involved his best friend like that for so long!"

Marinette just nodded, knowing that in their relationship, she was the one who could keep a secret. Three years as Alya's hero and she was none the wiser. Sometimes, late at night, Marinette was consumed with guilt, knowing she was keeping something so huge from her best friend tore her apart. Yet she had already been possessed once, and that Akuma had filled her with a savage hunger for Ladybug's identity, if she had known Marinette was Ladybug…It could've been a lot worse. "I'll let you off with a warning this time, but next time you rat me out it'll be a finger!"

Alya smiled, and sent a quick text simultaneously. She was a renowned multitasker, sometimes holding two conversations and writing a Ladyblog article at the same time. Multitasking was what allowed her to finish her schoolwork, run a blog, and constantly chase her favorite superhero all around Paris.

After Alya left, Marinette pulled out her computer and started working on her English homework. English was the most complicated language, but the fashion world almost required her to be proficient in it conversationally. Though Paris was fashion central, to really spread any future label she would need to be multifaceted. Chat Noir spoke English very well, obviously it had been introduced to him at a young age. He had once confided that his mother was an American model, and had emphasized the past participle in that, but that was all he had ever said on the subject. Other than using his fluent English to pay her more flirtatious compliments.

Chat Noir had been flirting with her for years, and if she knew who he was, she could really see herself falling for him, however Adrien was also in the equation. It was incredibly ironic, she has no idea who Chat Noir is, yet knows more about him without knowing his name than she's learned about Adrien in the three years she's been in love with him. She knows it's a bit silly for her to be in love with either of them with those facts in consideration, but she can't control herself.

When the evening of the New Year's Eve Eve party arrived, Marinette could barely breathe. This was the third year that Nino had held some sort of party for the occasion, moving it back to the 30th after attendance had been so low when he held it on actual New Year's Eve. They all stayed up till midnight, drinking sparkling cider and launching fireworks, having a symbolic countdown despite the fact that there was still another day of the year left. It had been fun last year, but it wasn't really Marinette's scene. Large crowds and music and dancing- she had no coordination for dancing- were all more of Ladybug things to do. She had planned on politely declining the invitation, possibly patrolling the city instead, maybe finishing the dresses she had been working on for her and Alya to wear to the Winter Formal, along with a tie that would match for Nino. Instead, she found Alya yanking her straight into the crowd. Crowds were at the very top of her "Avoid at All Costs" list, and she knew that Alya knew how much she despised them, however she continued to yank.

"I saw Adrien here like five minutes ago!" She shouted behind her shoulder at the struggling Marinette, "Nino is already talking to him so we have an excuse for you to go up to him!"

They burst from the thicket into a small gap where old a few people lurk, two of which being the laughing Adrien and Nino. They were standing closest to the large window of the boat which the party was being held on. Nino's parents owned a prosperous dock on the Seine, and the large yacht had been decorated for the evening. Though much lower key than Chloe and even Adrien, who had drivers and personal assistants, Nino's family came from old Parisian money, and the party showed it. Nino had his own DJ equipment, set up in the back and currently manned by Alix, the only other person Nino trusted to touch it.

"Nino!" Alya shouted happily, practically skipping into his arms. The two were a disgustingly intimate couple, even after a year of being together. "Hey Adrien, what's up?"

"Nothing much, just counting down the days until I sell my soul to education again," he laughed immediately after finishing, Marinette had noticed that Adrien always laughed at his own jokes, something she had always found endearing.

"I feel the same way! Nino and I are going to go dance for a while, before he has to return to his DJ duties." Alya winked at Marinette, before whisking Nino away in a similar manner to how she had been dragging Marinette only minutes before.

For the first time in a long time, her and Adrien were somewhat alone. He ran his hand through his hair awkwardly and she noticed he was wearing a black ring, maybe a family ring or something, she knew that rich kids did that sort of thing. "If I had known Nino was going to ditch me, I wouldn't have agreed to coming." His voice wasn't nearly as confident as it had been when he had spoken just minutes earlier, giving Marinette an ounce of hope that she wasn't the only one handicapped by awkwardness.

"Yeah, uh, yeah, Alya sort of forced me to come too." She bounced on the balls of her feet, nearly jumping when he smiled back at her. "Wonder why they needed us here, when they knew they were just going to be glued to each other all night long?" He gestured towards the two, who had, rather than going to the dance floor where they said they were going, had ended up on a coach cuddled close together.

"Moral support?" Marinette shrugged, earning another grin from Adrien.

"Something like that. Do you want to get a drink?" He pointed to the fancy fountain in the center of the room. It was all non-alcoholic of course, yet all the kids were enjoying the air of sophistication which a wineglass seemed to give them.

She nodded, and the two walked to the table in silence. Like the gentleman which Marinette knew he was, Adrien filled two glasses, handing one to her. She sipped at the bubbly drink, feeling a little bit of artificial confidence from having anything to grasp onto.

They walked away from the table together as to escape the line which had formed. They were heading back to the edge of the room where the crowd wasn't as dense when a leg shot out of nowhere, tripping Marinette.

She instinctively threw her hands out to catch her, forgetting about the glass in her hand until she felt the shards ripping through her skin. She let out a small cry of pain, which was immediately lost in the sound of the people and music. She shook her hand, wincing as she saw the blood, and turned her head to face the perpetrator.

Marinette wasn't at all surprised to see Chloe looming over her with a smirk plastered on her face, "Oops, you should be more careful where you're going, Mariklutz." She laughed, fist bumping Sabrina as though the nickname had been even somewhat clever.

"That wasn't funny Chloe, she's bleeding!" Adrien shouted, his voice easily overcame all the other noise, and people were beginning to stare, their eyes immediately drawn to her hand. Marinette blushed uncomfortably, she didn't like when this many people looked at her. It was fine when she commanded attention, she was the class president and was used to giving speeches and all that type of thing, but this attention was much worse.

"Oh it was an accident Adrien, you know Marinette, she can't even walk in a straight line without falling down!" Chloe snorted.

Adrien took a step towards Chloe, and while it was all very endearing, Marinette grabbed the collar of his shirt with her good hand. "She really isn't worth getting angry over."

"How can you not be angry? Look at your hand!"

She did look at her hand, and she did look at the mess it was making on the floor, and she knew she had to get out of there before there was permanent damage to the expensive looking hardwood.

"I'd rather go and get this cleaned up instead," she gestured towards the drops of blood on the floor, and the anger on Adrien's face was replaced with concern.

"Oh my god you're right, do you want me to call an ambulance? That's a lot of blood…"

"No I'm just going to go to the bathroom, uh can you uh I don't know, uh get rid of that?" She stumbled over her words, and Adrien quickly nodded, pointing towards the bathroom. She rushed in the direction, cupping her other hand to catch any more stray drops of blood.

When she entered the fluorescent lighting of the bathroom, she was nearly blinded by how impeccably white the whole room was. Rather than being stunned by the cleanliness, she jogged to the sink and turned the water onto full blast.

The water coming off her hand was a dark red, and a couple fragments of glass accompanied it. After a few seconds of water, she held her hand up to the light. The little shards of remaining glass glittered, and blood was flowing at an alarming rate. She couldn't tell whether or not the depth required stitches.

As she pondered seeking medical attention, there was a knock at the door.

"Marinette? It's Adrien," as if she could ever not identify that voice, "I brought a first aid kit from Nino, can I come in?"

Marinette pondered the ethical correctness of allowing a boy in the girl water closet, but only for a second before shouting her acquiesce.

He had a decent sized clear plastic box which he set on the counter beside her sink and quickly unlatched.

"How deep are the cuts?"

"I was just wondering that myself."

"Let me see," he grabbed her hand and studied the mangled skin without even a slight flinch.

"I didn't know that modeling required medical training." She attempted playfully, though her pain made it strained.

He looked up and smiled, "My dad has made me take a class on basically everything."

She nodded, knowing the notorious Gabriel Agreste had always pushed his son to the limit of his physical and mental abilities. Everyone in her class, minus maybe Chloe who was oblivious and self-absorbed, knew about the tense relationship between the Agreste boys.

Marinette studied Adrien's hands as he methodically plucked the shiny slivers and then wrapped a whole roll of gauze around and around and around. She could feel the warmth of his hands, and the rapid response of her heart.

"There," he taped the end, "that should keep you from bleeding to death, but I think you need a couple of stitches, and I'm not quite qualified for that."

She frowned, dreading the explanation and subsequent teasing her friends and family would bestow upon her. Minus Alya, who would probably just threaten to murder Chloe.

"Ok, thank you so much for all your help, you probably didn't plan on spending your evening cleaning up blood."

"You'd be surprised by how exciting my evenings can get," he finished by laughing at his own joke again.

"In any case, I better call my mom to come get me." She pulled out her phone, but he pushed it down. "My driver can be here in under five minutes, he can take us to a clinic close by or something."

"No I really don't want to make your night any worse I-"

"I didn't even want to come here, you'll be doing me a favor by giving me an out." He waggled his eyebrows, and she surrendered.

They walked out of the party, dodging people as they went. She sent a quick text to Alya explaining the situation, knowing that it would be a while before she noticed that Marinette was missing. When they exited the cabin, the bitter winter air hit Marinette's bare legs. She had worn a sky blue dress she had designed for a summer occasion, but couldn't resist wearing tonight, knowing that it perfectly matched her eyes and that the party would be held indoors. She shivered, and the pair rushed to the sleek black car waiting at the end of the dock.

The car smelled like new leather and the man who drove it was the typical security looking guy, bald head and everything. Adrien leaned forward and explained the situation, getting only a grunt in return. The car glided out of the parking lot smoothly, and entered the parking lot of a clinic in a very timely manner.

The stitches took less than fifteen minutes, done by a laughing physician who had "seen it a million times" this late at night. He told her to get them removed in about a week, and that any pharmacy in Paris would do it.

Before she could argue, Adrien paid the bill, insisting that he had the money for it, which Marinette couldn't really disagree with. His car had sat patiently, and they rushed through the cold, back into the warmth of the heat.

"Why do you put up with Chloe?" He asked after Marinette had given the address of her house to his driver, "I have never seen you two in the same room without her attempting to destroy you."

"She just wants me to react. Most people hate her, fear her, or beg to be on her good side, like Sabrina, and I think she can't stand the fact that all of the name calling and tripping in the world doesn't make me upset, doesn't make me run away, I don't fear her and I might hate her but I don't react like she wants me to. I don't know, it's difficult to explain, I have my moments for sure, but she's just kind of pathetic." The speech dwindles lower as it goes on, yet he still listens patiently. "It helps that she's in love with you, and you were talking to me tonight."

His eyes widened comically, and she rushed to assure him that it wasn't his fault. He seemed like the kind of guy who would always claim the blame, and never forgive himself.

"Well, sticks and stones can hurt my bones but words can never hurt you." He switched fluently into English, and Marinette managed to barely grasp onto the meaning of his words.

"What is that?"

"An American saying that my mother was very fond of, Chloe can stab you as many times as she wants, but her words aren't ever going to get to you." Adrien smiled, and Marinette could feel a million butterflies take flight in the pit of her stomach.

Before she had a chance to respond, they had pulled onto the side of the road next to her bakery and home. "Your family has the best croissants in all of Paris." He said with another smile, once again causing Marinette to feel those butterflies, she would have to remember to bring him some at some point.

He walked her all the way to her door, once again showing the gentleman within. She walked in, waving to him and his driver awkwardly before letting the door shut.

Before she even had time to plop down on her bed, Tikki had flown out of her purse. "There's an armed robbery in progress at the Banque Palatine!" She squeaked rapidly. Tikki had taken to listening to a police scanner app which Marinette had installed on her phone, and was always up to date on criminal activity, and was always draining Marinette's battery.

"Do I have to? I'm sure the police and Chat Noir can handle it!" She muttered while practically collapsing onto her bed, the doctor had given her a slight sedative and she could feel it draining her.

"Did you not hear me?! ARMED robbery, they have guns Marinette, and they've taken hostages! Someone could die, you have to go!"

Marinette sighed, but got out of bed regardless. "Fine," she grunted, "Spots on Tikki."

The pink sparkles of the transformation surrounded her as she felt her blue sundress being replaced by her spandex Ladybug outfit. The mask covered her face, and her hair wound into a braid. Over the years, she found that any changes she made while in the Ladybug costume (like adding pockets, or braiding her hair) would carry over and redo themselves when she transformed again. So in order to keep it from being completely obvious to her classmates, she had changed her hair from her signature, ever present double ponytails, to a simple single braid. It had actually made her head feel a lot better; less bouncing.

She sighed one more time before jumping off her balcony, making the short journey to the Banque Palatine. Upon her arrival, she could understand why Tikki had sounded so urgent, there were quite a few police cars and everyone looked panicked.

She heard a thud as another pair of costumed feet landed on the rooftop she had chosen to scope the situation.

"My lady, you look paw-sitively lovely tonight, as always. So what's going on?" He leaned against his staff lightly, his neon green eyes observing the scene critically.

"Armed robbery, from what the scanner said. They have seven hostages, one child." Children always made the situation much more complicated, they were emotional and unpredictable, difficult to save.

"Piece of cake, let's knock 'em out." He sang before vaulting off the roof. She rolled her eyes and swung after him. They landed on the top of the building, and quickly covered the entire roof. Luckily, like many of the buildings in France, there were many skylights. The glass was too foggy to see the scene inside, so they instead found one that led to a dark room.

They popped the top off, and he climbed down first. She followed him, landing on her feet in the blackness. Chat pressed the paw on his staff, and a small beam of light popped out. They could hear voices dimly, and years of partnership allowed them to come to silent agreement.

The hallway leading to the central room had lighting, so they didn't have to give themselves away with the light of Chat's staff. They creeped around the bend, and came to a frightening sight. There were eight men, seven of whom were pointing guns at civilians. There seems to be three workers amongst the crowd, and four customers, one of whom is a six year old boy, sobbing violently.

Chat turned his green eyes to Ladybug, "What's the plan?" He whispered.

"Distract them, acrobatics would be best, don't get shot, I'll untie the hostages and get them out, try to cover me but I always have my yoyo."

He grinned in a very catlike manner, running full force to meet eight armed men, she shook her head; he was insane.

"Well hello criminals, lovely night to threaten some innocent people with guns, wouldn't you say?" She heard him say from afar.

"Why if it isn't Paris's very own vigilante, the little kitty who saves the world." Marinette was surprised by the fact that they were speaking English, typical for them to rob a dominantly English speaking bank. "Did you bring your little girlfriend? Now that's a woman who I would not mind being arrested by." He winked at Chat, and Ladybug could see Chat's fists clench. He was typically very lighthearted, but extremely protective of her, which annoyed her to no end.

Ladybug attempted to block out their conversation and focus on the task at hand: rescuing the hostages. She succeeded in reaching the group without the men noticing, they had instead formed a tight circle around Chat Noir. This stealth was broken by the six year old crying out her name, and all of the men turned towards her.

"Ah the heroine is here after all!" The leader roared, "Grab her, she'd make the best hostage in all of Paris!" And just like that, the men had forgotten about Chat and turned their focus onto her.

She flinched as the sound of the first gunshot hit her ears, relieved to see it aimed at Chat and not the hostages, but it only caused the little boy to sob louder. Chat was systematically whacking the men on the heads or wiping their legs out from under them as they raced to her, their eyes met, and she refocused on aiding the hostage's escape.

"Come with me," she urged, "We're going to get you out of here." The hostages were quick to stand up, minus the boy who continued to sob. She scooped him up and pointed to the exit, allowing the hostages to run first. She kept her eyes on the men with the bullets, but they were all preoccupied as she had hoped. As soon as she heard the door open she turned her back to Chat and ran the boy to the exit, where a cop was waiting to grab him.

After they had all escaped, she ran back to the action. The leader had separated himself, and had his eyes on her. She used her yoyo to yank his gun out of his grasp, throwing it to the other side of the room. He continued bounding towards her, and before she could throw again, Chat had swiped his legs out from under him.

"Sorry good sir," he said in his flawless English, the man attempted to get up, but Chat placed his foot onto his back, "She's my lady."

"You two, you think you're so smart, gallivanting around Paris, stopping crime, hiding behind your masks, one day it'll end, one day someone will get you, you're just a couple of young idiots with a death sentence." He growled, struggling underneath Chat's foot.

"Ah tut tut, as my mother always said, sticks and stones can break my bones but your words can never hurt me." Ladybug froze with her yoyo mid wind up, that phrase, Adrien had used that phrase less than an hour ago. American mothers, careless fathers, blond hair, green eyes, it all clicked like an avalanche.

Chat Noir was Adrien Agreste.

Her head snapped to him, and his to hers, and she missed the man bounding towards her, his gun aimed straight at her heart.

"Lady!" Chat screeched, sounding more panicked than she had ever heard him. Her head snapped back to the man, and seeing the gun she automatically jumped out of the line of fire. Chat's staff hit the man as soon as he pulled the trigger, but regardless: he had pulled the trigger.

Ladybug felt fire burn a path across her right arm, ripping her costume open. Her whole body shuddered with the impact, knocking her onto her back.

"Lady!" She heard Chat shout, her left hand immediately flown to her arm. She could feel a gash, not a hole, it confused her in her disoriented state.

"Ladybug," Chat panted as he reached her, "Oh god Ladybug I don't know how much more blood I can handle tonight."

 _Blood, this was the second time tonight he has seen me bleed tonight._ She thought as she sat up, still clutching her arm.

"I'm fine Chat, why are you such a scaredy cat?"

He growled at her, literally growled, "There is a time and a place for cat puns, Lady, and when you're lying on the ground bleeding to death? Yeah, not a good time!"

She laughed again, feeling oddly light despite the wound. The police had finally rushed in, and were cuffing the gunmen. She could see a paramedic rushing towards them, and she grasped Chat- or Adrien's- arm, as her eyes darted between the paramedic and him.

"Don't worry my lady, I'll stay with you while they patch you up." He promised, and he did. He stayed while the paramedics ripped her suit down and up her arm and anesthetized the area. He let her hold his hand as the needle went in and out of her arm, filling her body with even more thread. The paramedic gave her the same instructions as the doctor had given her in the clinic.

As soon as he was done sewing, she and Chat climbed up a building and started running across rooftops. The topical sedative didn't affect Ladybug's performance, and they had time, without using their respective powers, their transformations lasted much longer. They mutually decided to stop on a building with a flat rooftop and a chimney. They both knew they couldn't stay for long, with the temperature just above freezing, it would hurt them both.

"Don't ever scare me like that again, I thought you were dead." He sputtered as soon as they stopped.

"Oh kitty, you couldn't lose me if you tried, I don't trust you to function on your own."

He grinned, and then quickly brought her to his chest in a hug. She could feel his erratic heartbeat through his suit, and a slight tremble. Either from the cold or the entire ordeal, Ladybug didn't know. She shuttered herself as she remembered that it was Adrien Agreste whom she was hugging, the boy she had pined after for years had been fighting along her side the entire time.

"Meet me on top of the Arc de Triomphe tomorrow," he muttered against her neck, "We'll ring in the New Year together?" He pulled away from her and looked into her eyes hopefully. Of course she agreed, she could never turn down a request like that from Adrien or Chat.

The next day passed by in a blur, with both her right hand and her right arm wrapped in gauze, she was relatively immobilized. Alya had come over at the crack of dawn, demanding all of the details of the night before. She was very disappointed to find how platonic the entire situation had been, and was predictably furious with Chloe. Yet at the same time she refrained from killing her because it had created such a "cute" situation for Adrienette, as she called them.

"What are you doing for New Year's tonight? Do you want to hang out with me and Nino? If you're wondering, Adrien's already declined."

Yeah, she knew that Adrien's already declined, but she wasn't about to confess to Alya about that. She declined as well, making up some fake bakery celebration, and claiming she didn't want to be a third wheel.

Alya didn't leave until nine, and Marinette spent the next couple of hours futilely attempting to focus on her English homework. When 11:20 came around, she yelled her catchphrase to Tikki without hesitation. Tikki was almost giddy at this point.

Traveling across the rooftops of Paris, Marinette deliberated, as she had been doing all day, how she was going to confess knowing to Adrien. She had been the one who had said she didn't want them to know their secret identities, and Chat had been pestering her for years. He would probably be overjoyed that all the secrets were ending, even if he was going to be presented with the klutzy Marinette instead of the graceful confident girl he probably thought Ladybug was.

She got to the Arc de Triomphe around 15 minutes later, and Chat was already there. No one else was on the Arc, and though it was a holiday, she didn't know how he had managed to get it completely abandoned.

"You came," he breathed out, his voice full of relief.

"Did you think I would abandon you? How could I abandon my kitty on a holiday?" She walked towards him and playfully ruffled his hair, stroking his ears as she went.

"Trying to get me to purr lady?" The way his voice sounded, he was practically purring.

"So what's your resolution?" He asked after they had sat down against one of the back walls.

"To not die," she responded quickly, and he glared at her.

"I'd say that was a horrible resolution, except I forbid you from not following it."

"Forbid? Aren't we using big words," she taunted, "What's yours?"

He gulped before turning his body completely towards her, "To tell the girl I love how I feel."

"Oh," Marinette could feel her heartrate pick up, "Have you, uh, loved her for a long time?"

"For the better part of three years," he replied, grabbing her hand in his, "And I think she knows it."

If a heart could explode from someone's chest, Marinette is sure hers would have by now. Before Marinette can make any sort of awkward reply, fireworks surround them, signaling the start of a new year. Chat brings his hand up to her cheek and pulls her into a kiss.

Marinette was slow to react, almost drunk off the sensation. The last time she had kissed Chat was when he had been possessed by a burning hatred for her through an Akuma attack, this Chat was completely different. Well, this was also Adrien, she reminded herself. She brought her hand up to the back of his neck, ignoring the pang in her arm as she did so. As soon as her hand touched him, he froze, and lifted his hand behind him to meet hers.

He pulled away from her, and brought the hand into his line of sight. He ran his clawed fingertips gently over the slight bulge underneath her glove, the bulge of the gauze from the previous night's incident.

"What's this?" He murmured, still obviously stunned from their New Year's kiss. Fireworks continued over their head as she pondered what to say next.

"Well," she answered as she unzipped and peeled back her glove, revealing the layer of gauze, "I would think you'd know."

"What?"

She unraveled the gauze, revealing the three lines of stitches and the other scratches that surrounded them, "You took me to get them, Adrien."

He gasped, looking back into her eyes, "Marinette?"

"Spots off, Tikki."

Pink sparks flew once again as she felt her Ladybug costume disappear. Tikki quickly flew into her purse, allowing the two privacy. She looked up at Adrien, waiting for his response.

"Claws in Plagg."

His own sparks flew as he transformed from Chat Noir into Adrien Agreste. He brought his hand up to her face, his eyes still wide at the revelation. "How long have you known?"

"Since yesterday, it was what got me shot."

He laughed loudly, his hand still on her cheek. "How could we have gone to school together for so long and not noticed?"

"We are obviously a couple of idiots." She agreed.

"God, I've been dying to know who you are for so long, how could I miss that?" He fell against the wall with a sigh, his eyes rolling back into his head. "And how could you figure it out before me?"

"Well I've always been the problem solver," she teased.

"Trust me, if I could have cataclysmed the answer, I would've know who you were the second I saw you."

She laughed and stood up, grabbing his hand and yanking him up with her. She pulled his face towards her for another kiss.

After a minute or so, she started laughing, having to break away again. "What's so funny?"

"Adrien, I've had the biggest crush on you for the past three years."

"You, Ladybug, have had a crush on me, Chat Noir, for three years?"

"Yep, and you, Chat Noir, have had a crush on me, Ladybug, for three years?"

"Oh my god," he slapped his hand flat onto his face, sighing in exasperation, "We _are_ idiots."

"Don't worry kitty, we have plenty of time to make up for it." She grinned at him, and he pulled his hand away from his face to smile back.

"Spots on Tikki," she said, grinning as she transformed back into Ladybug. "Just because we love each other and all that cheesy stuff doesn't mean we can forget about patrols."

"I don't know," Adrien says, pulling her to his chest, "It _is_ a holiday."

As soon as he says it, there's a distant explosion and screaming, causing Marinette to giggle. "Claws out, Plagg."

Chat Noir and Ladybug jump off the Arc together, swinging and vaulting onto the nearest rooftop, racing each other to a warzone, laughing the whole way.


End file.
